Electrical distribution centers are being widely used in automobiles. The electrical distribution center is simply a central junction box or block system designed as a stand-alone assembly. This junction block can package various fuses, relays and other electrical devices in a central location. The electrical distribution centers not only reduce costs by consolidating these various functions into one block, but the centers also reduce the number of cut and spliced leads which helps to increase reliability. Such electrical distribution centers include provisions for electrically connecting a power source and electrical devices housed in the junction block to electrical wiring harness connectors for supplying power and control signals to various electrical systems of the vehicle such as air conditioning system; fuel supply systems; lighting circuit; instrument panels and to provide signals to engine and auxiliary systems such as anti-lock brake wiring assemblies.
Brussalis et al "Electrical Distribution Center With Two-piece Insulation Assembly" U.S. Ser. No. 08/689,619 (Attorney docket number H-182282) the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes an electrical power distribution center having features similar to the present invention. Such an electrical distribution center typically includes an upper and lower housing and a cover which fit together and are molded from a thermoplastic electrically insulative material. The lower housing includes a main body portion having a plurality of slots formed therethrough each for receiving the blade of a male terminal. A shroud extends from the edges of the main body portion and defines connector sockets in a bottom face of the lower housing, for receiving electrical connectors of a wire harness used in a vehicle application. The electrical center also includes a power bus which is carried in an insulation assembly. Additional electrical circuits may be carried in or on the insulation assembly. Male terminal blades extend out of the bottom face of the insulation assembly and through the slots in the lower housing for engagement with female terminals carried in the wire harness connector. However, when the number of terminals carried by the wire harness connector results in an engagement force greater than 80 Newtons, the engagement force is too great for an assembler to manually couple the wire harness connector to the male terminal blades and a mechanical assist, such as a bolt and nut, is necessary.
Heretofore, driving a bolt to couple the connector to the electrical center had not been an easy task. The electrical distribution center is housed in a splash shield overlying a shock tower and a wheel well of a vehicle. Consequently, in order to provide enough room to drive the bolt into the electrical distribution center with an electrical or pneumatic wrench, the center had to be flipped up side down so that the bottom face of the lower housing and the connector sockets were facing up towards the assembler and away from the splash shield. To accomplish this an additional length of wire harness was provided beyond that required to seat the center in its final position in the splash shield. Despite these additional length of wire harness, this process still required the assembler to pull on and sometimes twist the wire harness as the center was flipped over. This subjected the wire harness to possible damage. After the electrical distribution center and connector had been bolted together, the center was flipped back over right side up and placed down into the splash shield. The additional wire was stuffed down into the splash shield as best each assembler could. This process subjected the wire harness to possible bends and kinks or cuts, as well as creating a difficult operation in routing multiple wire harnesses and seating the electrical distribution center simultaneously.
The present invention provides alternatives to and advantages over the prior art.